Commit This to Memory: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 02:12, 15 February 2023

Revision as of 03:01, 16 February 2023

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{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2019}}

{{Infobox album

| name = Commit This to Memory

| type = Studio

| artist = [[Motion City Soundtrack]]

| cover = Motion City Soundtrack - Commit This to Memory cover.jpg

| border = yes

| alt =

| released = June 7, 2005

| recorded = October–November 2004<br />Seedy Underbelly Studios <small>([[Valley Village, Los Angeles|Valley Village]], California)</small><br />Sound Castle <small>([[Silver Lake, Los Angeles|Silver Lake]], California)</small><br />Cello Studios <small>(Hollywood, California)</small>

| venue =

| studio =

| genre = {{flat list|

*[[Emo]]

*[[pop- punk]]<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Bacle|first1=Ariana|title=Motion City Soundtrack Announce Break Up|url=https://www.ew.com/article/2016/03/11/motion-city-soundtrack-break-up|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|access-date=March 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311204120/http://www.ew.com/article/2016/03/11/motion-city-soundtrack-break-up|archive-date=March 11, 2016|date=March 11, 2016}}</ref>}}

| length = 39:19

| label = [[Epitaph Records|Epitaph]]

| producer = [[Mark Hoppus]]

| prev_title = [[I Am the Movie]]

| prev_year = 2003

| next_title = [[Even If It Kills Me]]

| next_year = 2007

| misc = {{Singles

| name = Commit This to Memory

| type = studio

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Pierre has in retrospect labeled half of the album's writing as being completed while inebriated and the other half while getting sober.<ref name="noisey"/> For example, he penned the lyrics to "Attractive Today" and "Time Turned Fragile" while drunk in his apartment, in a "sad and lonely place".<ref name=pierrepodcast/> In this approach, words mostly "just came out", and were not substantially revised. In addition, he was listening to the 2003 album ''[[Reconstruction Site]]'' by [[the Weakerthans]], and found himself inspired by the songwriting of frontman [[John K. Samson]].<ref name=pierrepodcast/> Pierre would often take lyrics from other bands songs for song titles; "Time Turned Fragile" is lifted from a lyric in [[Limbeck]]'s "[[Hi, Everything's Great|Julia]]", while "Together We'll Ring in the New Year" was pulled from the Tom Waits song "[[Franks Wild Years|Please Wake Me Up]]".<ref name=pierrepodcast/> "[[L.G. Fuad]]"—which stands for "Let's Get Fucked Up and Die"—grew out of a night on Motion City Soundtrack's 2003 UK tour with [[The All-American Rejects]], in which the latter band's merchandise manager was severely inebriated.<ref name="altpress05"/> He stood on the merchandise stand and shouted what became the song's refrain. All involved found great humor in the "mantra", which went on to be printed on business cards as a joke.<ref name=altpress05>{{cite journal| date =July 2005| title =Motion City Soundtrack Article| journal = [[Alternative Press (music magazine)|Alternative Press]]| issue = 204| pages =129–130 | issn =1065-1667 }}</ref> "Hold Me Down" was inspired by a former roommate of Pierre's. After she had moved out, Pierre found a portion of her math homework in a couch cushion, leading to him imagining a scenario of finding a letter from a departed lover.<ref name=pierrepodcast>{{cite video|people = Lucy, Evan (Interviewer); Pierre, Justin (Interviewee)|date = January 15, 2015|title = Episode 025: Justin Pierre (10-Year Motion City Soundtrack Retrospective)|url = http://ec.libsyn.com/p/4/0/0/4005c806b8ff4410/VV025.mp3?d13a76d516d9dec20c3d276ce028ed5089ab1ce3dae902ea1d06ca8634d4cc5d4645&c_id=8177547|format = mp3|medium = Podcast|publisher = Voice & Verse|access-date = January 15, 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150115195117/http://ec.libsyn.com/p/4/0/0/4005c806b8ff4410/VV025.mp3?d13a76d516d9dec20c3d276ce028ed5089ab1ce3dae902ea1d06ca8634d4cc5d4645&c_id=8177547|archive-date = January 15, 2015|url-status = dead}}</ref>

The album has been called definitive of [[pop punk|pop-punk]].<ref name="avclub"/> Joshua Cain dismissed this label, remarking, "I definitely wouldn't consider us a pop-punk band. Our influences are more based on '90s bands like [[Superchunk]] and early [[Weezer]]."<ref name=altpress05.1>{{cite journal| author=Eric Schelkopf| date =January 28, 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050312204437/http://www.nwherald.com/EntertainmentSection/sound/293671886277726.php|archive-date=March 12, 2005| title =Epitaph bands join for tour stops at NIU, Metro | journal =[[Kane County Chronicle]]|url=http://www.nwherald.com/EntertainmentSection/sound/293671886277726.php}}</ref>

==Reception==

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The album was leaked to [[file sharing]] websites within a day of the final [[Audio mastering|mastering]] and months before its official release.<ref name=rehearsalvid>{{cite video|people = Megan Cunningham, Mike Raffensperger (Producers) |title= Rehearsal Space: Motion City Soundtrack |url= http://www.zoom-in.com/spotlights/rehearsal_space_motion_city_soundtrack |format= Streaming video |medium= Interview |publisher= Zoom-In |access-date = May 29, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705005216/http://www.zoom-in.com/spotlights/rehearsal_space_motion_city_soundtrack|archive-date=July 5, 2008}}</ref> It debuted on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] in the issue dated June 25, 2005 at position 72,<ref name=billboard1>{{cite magazine| date =June 25, 2005| title =The ''Billboard'' 200| magazine =[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]| volume =117| issue = 26| page =53 | issn =0006-2510}}</ref> selling 16,000 copies in its opening week.<ref name=billboard>{{cite magazine| author=Cortney Harding| date =October 6, 2007| title =Chart Motion| magazine =[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]| volume =119| issue = 40| page =46 | issn =0006-2510}}</ref> It charted better on the magazine's [[Independent Albums]] chart, where it peaked at number two.<ref name="ind"/> The last official estimate placed it at 285,000 albums sold in the U.S.,<ref name="oc"/> but Pierre said in 2015 interview that the number is closer to 500,000.<ref name="noisey">{{cite news|url=http://noisey.vice.com/blog/rank-your-records-motion-city-soundtracks-justin-pierre|author=Jonah Bayer|title=Rank Your Records: Motion City Soundtrack's Justin Pierre Rates the Band's Five Albums|publisher=[[Vice Media, Inc.|Noisey]] ([[Vice Media, Inc.]])|date=October 1, 2015|access-date=October 1, 2015}}</ref> The band's music videos found regular rotation on networks such as [[MTV2]], and the band also performed on ''[[Late Night with Conan O'Brien]]''.<ref name="westw"/> ''[[Rolling Stone]]''{{'}}s Lauren Gilton considered the album a [[sleeper hit]].<ref name="rs05">{{cite news|title=Bands to Watch: Motion City Soundtrack |author=Lauren Gilton |date=December 1, 2005 |url=http://www.motioncitysoundtrack.com/RSPress.jpg |page=28 |issue=988 |access-date=May 29, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061218225055/http://www.motioncitysoundtrack.com/RSPress.jpg |archive-date=December 18, 2006 }}</ref> Nevertheless, the band's breakthrough brought naysayers, and the group became targets for critics of [[pop punk]]: "[the band was] frequently characterized as the sort of ultra-commercial punk poseurs who water down the genre to the point of drowning it."<ref name="westw">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.westword.com/2006-02-16/music/constant-motion/full|title=Constant Motion|author= Michael Roberts |date=February 16, 2006|magazine=[[Westword]]|access-date=April 15, 2014}}</ref>

Subsequent reviews of the album have continued to be positive. In 2014, ''[[The A.V. Club]]'' referred to the album as a classic of [[pop punk|pop-punk]], "full of hook-laden, keyboard-assisted songs whose bright melodies don't mask the despair and self-loathing lurking beneath them."<ref name="avclub"/> Reyan Ali of ''Cincinnati CityBeat'' wrote that ''Commit This to Memory'' "absolutely bleeds charm", commenting, "Even with all the dire thematic matter Pierre's lyrics covered, [...] the band framed the words with music that sparkled, owing to spunky, inspired hooks, full-sounding record production and ample doses of Moog."<ref name="cb"/> ''[[Alternative Press (music magazine)|Alternative Press]]''{{'s}} Tyler Sharp deemed the record a "classic",<ref name="altpress14">{{cite news|url=http://www.altpress.com/news/entry/motion_city_soundtrack_announce_commit_this_to_memory_10th_anniversary_tour|title=Motion City Soundtrack announce 'Commit This To Memory' 10th Anniversary Tour|author= Tyler Sharp |date=November 10, 2014|work=[[Alternative Press (music magazine)|Alternative Press]]|access-date=May 29, 2015}}</ref> while Taylor Morgan of ''[[OC Weekly]]'' called it "the soundtrack of [[millennial]] youth, reminiscent of breakups, making out, goofing off, and growing up."<ref name="oc">{{cite news|url=http://blogs.ocweekly.com/heardmentality/2015/02/motion_city_soundtrack_february_12th_2015_1.php|title=Motion City Soundtrack Delivers Pop Punk Nostalgia in Anaheim|author=Taylor Morgan|date=February 13, 2015|work=[[OC Weekly]]|access-date=May 29, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518103844/http://blogs.ocweekly.com/heardmentality/2015/02/motion_city_soundtrack_february_12th_2015_1.php|archive-date=May 18, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[BuzzFeed]] included the album at number 21 on their "36 Pop Punk Albums You Need To Hear Before You F——ing Die" list.<ref name=BuzzFeed>{{cite web|url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/mariasherm/36-pop-punk-albums-you-need-to-hear-before-you-f-ing-die|title=36 Pop Punk Albums You Need To Hear Before You F----ing Die|author1=Sherman, Maria |author2=Broderick, Ryan |work=BuzzFeed|date=July 2, 2013|access-date=July 29, 2015}}</ref> ''[[NME]]'' listed the album as one of "20 Pop Punk Albums Which Will Make You Nostalgic".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/photos/20-pop-punk-albums-which-will-make-you-nostalgic/340824|title=20 Pop Punk Albums Which Will Make You Nostalgic|date=June 9, 2014|work=NME|access-date=July 29, 2015}}</ref>

==Touring==